SATURDAY EDITORIAL

“But you, when you pray, go into your room, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father who is in the secret place; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you openly. But when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathens do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words. Therefore do not be like them. For your Father knows the things you have need of before you ask Him. In this manner, therefore, pray:

Our Father in heaven, hallowed be Your name. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors. And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.” (Matthew 6:6-13)

“Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God …” (Philippians 4:6)

“Praise is awaiting You, O God, in Zion; and to You the vow shall be performed. O You who hear prayer, to You all flesh will come.” (Psalm 65:1-2)

“… Most assuredly, I say to you, whatever you ask the Father in My name He will give you. Until now you have asked nothing in My name. Ask, and you will receive, that your joy may be full.” (John 16:23-24)

“And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.” (John 14:13-14)
Notice several key things from these verses, along with how Jesus interacted with His Father when He was walking down here on our earth in the flesh:

1. In the very first verse listed above, Jesus tells us to specifically pray direct to God the Father. He does not tell us to pray direct to Him, the Holy Spirit, or to any dead saints who will be up in heaven once He dies on the cross for all of us.

If Jesus wanted us to pray to either Him or the Holy Spirit, I believe He would have included that directive in this verse. This verse is very specific in that we are to pray only to God the Father if we have any specific prayer requests or needs that need to be met.

2. In the second verse above, the apostle Paul once again tells us to make all of our prayer requests be made known direct to God the Father, not to Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or any dead saints who are now up in heaven by the time Paul makes this statement.

3. The third verse above is from King David. Notice that he is addressing God the Father direct and then makes the statement that God the Father is the One will actually “hear prayer.” Again, he is only addressing God the Father on this issue, not Jesus or the Holy Spirit.

4. The last two verses from Jesus are now going to give us one more key piece of revelation. Not only must you pray direct to God the Father, but Jesus now wants those prayers to be done “in His name.” In other words, pray direct to God the Father in the name of Jesus.

Praying direct to God the Father in the name of Jesus means you recognize and realize that it is only through Jesus and His sacrificial death on the cross that we now have direct access to both Him and His Father in heaven. Here are two main verses that will tell us that Jesus Christ is the only way to eternal salvation with God the Father:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” (John 14:6)

“Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12)
5. If you study very carefully how Jesus interacted with the Father while He was walking down here on this earth, He was always praying direct to God the Father. There is not one instance where He prayed direct to the Holy Spirit. Jesus was obviously doing all of His miracles by the power of the Holy Spirit, but all of His actual prayers were always directed to God the Father, not to Himself or to the Holy Spirit.

I believe all of the above verses should be interpreted very literally. And if Jesus and the apostle Paul are telling us to direct all of our prayers to God the Father, then we should do exactly that and not try to direct our prayers to either Jesus, the Holy Spirit, or any dead saints who are now in heaven.

If Jesus wanted us to direct any of our personal prayers to either Him, the Holy Spirit, or to any dead saints who are now up in heaven, I believe He would have personally put that kind of revelation into the Bible.

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